Liquor baron Vijay Mallya was an active participant in money laundering and his Kingfisher Airlines pvt Ltd had indulged in criminal activities, the Enforcement Directorate has informed a special anti money laundering court in Mumbai.

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya was an active participant in money laundering and his Kingfisher Airlines pvt Ltd had indulged in criminal activities, the Enforcement Directorate has informed a special anti money laundering court in Mumbai. (PTI image)

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya was an active participant in money laundering and his Kingfisher Airlines pvt Ltd had indulged in criminal activities, the Enforcement Directorate has informed a special anti money laundering court in Mumbai. The ED has said this in its 57-page charge sheet or prosecution complaint in connection with Rs 900 crore IDBI-KFA bank loan case probe. The 61 year old was also blamed for routing overseas over Rs 417 crore of Rs 900 crore loan it got for aircraft rental leasing and operational expenses, according to Indian Express report.

The ED has named a total of nine accused, including Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines (KFA), United Breweries (Holding) Limited and senior employees and executives of the now-defunct airline and the IDBI (Industrial Development Bank of India) bank, in the charge sheet. The agency has called Mallya the prime mover of the entire plot. It has also mentioned the role of other officials and executives of KFA and IDBI bank in this deal and has explained how the alleged fraud of bank loan in this case was done, with the help of flow charts and diagrams, according to agency report.

The complaint also pressed for charges under sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines, United Breweries Holdings Ltd and six others.

The ED claimed that the airline in two instances diverted the loan money by paying higher rentals for aircraft leased from two Mauritius-based firms run by former employees of UB Group between 2007 and 2013. The ED also said Kingfisher transferred about Rs 53 crore of the loan amount to Mallya’s Force India Formula One Team Ltd while about Rs 70 crore was diverted to two firms controlled by him — UBICS Technologies Pvt Ltd and UB Engineering Pvt Ltd, accordiong to Indian Express report.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London had granted bail to Mallya until December 4. The next hearing will take place on July 6. Mallya had taken a dig at authorities saying they could keep dreaming about a billion pounds and claimed that he had enough evidence to prove his case. Mallya also had said that he did not make statements to the media because anything he said was twisted. There is enough evidence, that will speak, Mallya said.

Mallya, who is wanted in India for Kingfisher Airlines’ default on loans worth nearly Rs 9,000-crore, has been in the UK since March 2016 and was arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant on April 18. He had attended a central London police station for his arrest and was released on conditional bail a few hours later after providing a bail bond worth 650,000 pounds, assuring the court of abiding by all conditions associated with extradition proceedings, such as the surrender of his passport and a ban on him possessing any travel documents.